Tough trade: the ITC protecting IP rights

Ben Rigby assesses the work of the International Trade Commission, where intellectual property law m...

Ben Rigby assesses the work of the International Trade Commission, where intellectual property law meets trade remedies. With a decade of litigation coming to a close, how did the ITC fare in 2015?

The International Trade Commission’s (ITC) work may seem an unlikely home for intellectual property (IP) law, but it is a powerful one. It acts as a quasi-judicial body that investigates whether or not an unfair trade practice is harming US businesses, and, if so, to what extent.

The ITC has the power to resolve a wide range of patent, copyright or trademark infringements that affect US domestic trade under section 337 of the Trademark Act 1946, otherwise known as the Lanham Act. CDR spoke to the DC-based lawyers who appear before it to find out more.

A German court has ruled that the country’s participation in the Unified Patent Court is unconstitutional. Following the UK’s withdrawal from the scheme, it leaves the future of the UPC in a precarious position.